Freedom Of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1966 to provide any person with access to Federal agency records and information.
It applies only to Federal agencies, not to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies
(each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records). See the
U.S. Department of Justice FOIA page for more information
on the Freedom of Information Act.

BOP's FOIA Service Center

The BOP's FOIA Service Center (FSC) is available to requestors seeking information concerning the status of a submitted FOIA request.

BOP FSC: (202) 616-7750

BOP's FOIA Public Liaison

BOP's FOIA Public Liaison is available to explain the FOIA process to you, provide information about the
status of your request, and to otherwise assist you in understanding how your request is being handled.
BOP's Public Liaison is Mr. C. Darnell Stroble, and he can be reached at (202) 616-7750.

About the BOP FOIA Library

The FOIA Library was developed to provide the public with access to certain types of information created by the Bureau of Prisons after
November 1, 1996. These categories of documents, as outlined in the Freedom of Information Act 5 U.S.C.552(a)(2) include:

(A) final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases;

(B) those statements of policy and interpretations that have been adopted by the agency and are not published in the Federal Register;

(C) administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public;

(D) copies of all records, regardless of form or format, that have been released to any person under paragraph (3) and that, because of the
nature of their subject matter, the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for
substantially the same records; and

(E) a general index of the records referred to under subparagraph (D)

These documents are also located in the conventional reading room. The conventional reading room is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., by appointment.
A dedicated workstation is available for public use in accessing the Bureau's documents in electronic format. Access to the Internet, particularly
the BOP home page - http://www.bop.gov - is available.

The Freedom of Information Act applies to all information and records with strictly limited exceptions. Most BOP Program
Statements (policies) are included on BOP's public website. Some material in Program Statements may be "redacted"
or withheld. Redacted material is indicated in the text by a bold number in brackets. The number refers to the
FOIA exemption(s) used.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6)]Concerns material the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of third parties.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A)]Concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(B)]Concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(C)]Concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of third parties.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(D)]Concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected to disclose the identities of confidential sources and information furnished by such sources.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(E)]Concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(F)]Concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or personal safety of an individual.

[5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(8)]Concerns matters that are "contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions."

Congress created three special protection provisions for protecting certain especially sensitive law enforcement matters,
referred to as record "exclusions." The record exclusions expressly authorize federal law enforcement agencies,
under these exceptional circumstances, to "treat the records as not subject to the requirements of [the FOIA]."

"5 U.S.C. § 552(c)(1) Whenever a request is made which involves access to records described in subsection (b)(7)(A)
and  (A) the investigation or proceeding involves a possible violation of criminal law; and(B) there is reason
to believe that (i) the subject of the investigation or proceeding is not aware of its pendency, and (ii) disclosure
of the existence of the records could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, the agency
may, during only such time as that circumstance continues, treat the records as not subject to the requirements
of this section."

"5 U.S.C. § 552(c)(2) Whenever informant records maintained by a criminal law enforcement agency under an informant's name
or personal identifier are requested by a third party according to the informant's name or personal identifier, the
agency may treat the records as not subject to the requirements of this section unless the informant's status as
an informant has been officially confirmed."

"5 U.S.C. § 552(c)(3) Whenever a request is made which involves access to records maintained by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation pertaining to foreign intelligence or counterintelligence, or international terrorism, and
the existence of the records is classified information as provided in subsection (b)(1), the Bureau may, as
long as the existence of the records remains classified information, treat the records as not subject to the
requirements of this section."

Former Inmates obtaining medical records

The request must specifically describe the records being sought and provide identifying data, such as date
of birth and register number, if known. Also, to ensure that private information is not released to anyone
else, the requester must verify his/her identity either by a notarized original signature or by submitting an
original signed Form DOJ-361, Certification of Identity.

Seeking research information

Fees for processing FOIA/PA requests are authorized by Department of Justice regulations published at 28 Code of
Federal Regulations Part 16. As a non-commercial requester, you will be charged only for search time that exceeds
two hours and copies in excess of 100 pages. Duplication charges are $.10 per page.

I am dissatisfied

I have not received all the information I requested. If I am dissatisfied with the Bureau's determination to withhold some of this information, what can I do?

You can appeal the Bureau's decision by submitting your complaint within 60 days to:

Office of Information and Privacy
US Department of Justice
1425 New York Avenue, N.W.
Suite 11050
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Response Format

You may request your information be provided as a hard copy or in electronic format. However, be advised that it is not always possible to convert requested information into electronic format.

Information about a person

If the information you seek is not available on the Inmate Locator, you must submit a request, along with a signed authorization from the person to whom the records pertain. That authorization must be an original document (not a copy), and must be notarized or signed under penalty of perjury. You may also use a DOJ-361 form.

Processing charges

Is there a charge for processing FOIA requests?

You may be charged fees in relation to your request. By submitting a request, you are agreeing to pay up to $25.00. If the estimated amount of fees is over $25.00, you will be notified of the actual or estimated amount.

Privacy Impact Assessments

The BOP is responsible for ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the information it collects on members of the
public, inmates, and its own employees. These individuals have a right to expect that BOP will collect, maintain,
use, and disseminate identifiable personal information only as authorized by law and as necessary to carry out agency responsibilities.

The E-Government Act of 2002 requires that Federal agencies conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) for applicable
electronic information systems. The PIA process evaluates issues related to the privacy of personally identifiable
information in electronic systems. Personally identifiable information is defined as information that actually
identifies an individual, e.g., name, address, social security number (SSN), or identifying number or code; or other
personal/sensitive information such as race, date of birth, home telephone number, personal e-mail address, etc.

You may be able to access the information you require via the World Wide Web
without making a FOIA request. Many documents are available on the Bureau of Prisons' or other websites.
Also, frequently requested information is available electronically in our FOIA Library.

If you have visited the FOIA Library and were not able to find the information you are looking for, you may need to make a FOIA request.
Please follow the guidelines below so we can respond to your request as quickly as possible.

Important!

Do not use this form if you are seeking non public information on an individual.
Requests for information on an individual must be accompanied by an authorization
and submitted via mail. For more information on seeking non-public information on
an individual please see the FAQ page.

Electronic FOIA Request Form

Contact Information

Today's Date:

Requestor's Name (Required):

Address Line 1:

Address Line 2 (optional):

City:

State:

Zip Code:

E-mail (Required):

Phone Number (optional):

Fax Number (optional):

Description of records sought

I request that a copy of the following documents/information be provided to me:

Assessment of fees

To help us determine your fee status, check one of the following requestor categories:

An individual seeking information for personal use

Affiliated with a private corporation and seeking information for use in the company's business

Affiliated with an educational institution and seeking information for a scholarly purpose

Affiliated with a noncommercial scientific institution and seeking information for a scientific purpose

A representative of the news media seeking information as part of a news gathering effort

In the previous step, you indicated you are affiliated with news media, please identify your organization:

Expedited processing

I request expedited processing of my request and have described in detail why i believe my request warrants it:

No compelling need exists to warrant expedited processing of this request

An imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual exists

An urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged federal government activity exists
(this option available only for requestors primarily engaged in disseminating information)

Please describe your justification for expedited processing in more detail:

Fee waiver / reduction in fees

The freedom of information reform act of 1986 provides that documents are to be furnished without any charge or
at a charge reduced below the fees established if disclosure of the information is in the public interest because
it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government
and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor.

To evaluate whether the statutory standard authorizing a fee waiver or reduction has been met, we will need
additional information upon which to base our determination. if you would like to request a fee waiver, please
provide additional information as justification for a fee waiver and/or reduction in fees:

If you have previously submitted a FOIA Request, you may use the box below to check the status of your request.
Please fill in your request number to obtain a status update.

The database is updated on a daily basis. The BOP's FOIA Service Center (FSC) is also available to requestors
seeking additional information about the BOP's FOIA program: (202) 616-7750, however, the Service Center will not be
able to provide any more information than is available via this status page. Specific questions or concerns should be addressed with the office assigned to process your
request.

Note: The entire Bureau of Prisons website and FOIA Library provides immediate access to frequently requested information.
Other information may be publicly available on other government websites such as FOIA.GOV.